From the Ashes The Perils of Jimmy!
by RRatedauthor
Summary: Chapter 2: The new guy in town turns out to be the final piece of the puzzle. When he receives control of Titanus, it ensures the safety of the world... or will his insecurities over his role spell doom for the team?
1. Chapter 1

The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers...

Words From The Author:

I was cleaning out my brother's apartment and I found this box of old scripts that he and I had worked on way back when we were both huge Ranger Fans. Keep in mind that these were written back in 1994, when the series was just beginning. Any similarities to anything that happened in future seasons is purely coincidental. As well, these were not written in prose form, so some of the scenes might seem a little off.

I hope you enjoy these. They were all based on one question: what's the deal with Titanus?

It was near lunchtime, Saturday, and the Juice Bar was much busier than usual. People were milling about, enjoying various beverages and talking. The focus was one of Angel Grove's ever present martial-arts expositions. Some out-of-stater was showing off some fancy moves in preparation for a local tournament.

"Ki-yaa!" He finished his routine with a flip and bow. The crowd applauded. Across the room, at the bar, Bulk and Skull were busy eating anything that wasn't nailed down.

"Hmph. He's not so good." Bulk returned to his sandwich.

"Yeah. He's not so good." Skull mimicked

On the other side of the room, the Power team had taken in the day's activities. Both Tommy and Jason seemed impressed with the recent display of martial arts.

"He's pretty good." Tommy said softly.

"Yeah, man." Jason agreed, reaching for his drink.

"Now it's time for my favorite part of the show... audience participation. Is there anyone here who would like to go one on one?" This dude, who looked maybe in his early-to-mid-twenties wiped his face on a towel.

"Watch me." Bulk set aside his sandwich and stepped forward. "Sure." He sauntered over, after telling Skull to "Time me."

"Okay." Obviously Bulk was not whom the demonstrator had expected when he'd asked for volunteers.

"I'll have you on the mat in no time." Bulk lunged

"Oh, shoot, my shoe is untied." Bulk flew over the man's head when he bent down to tie his flopping lace. The room exploded in gales of laughter.

"Two point one seconds. Not bad, Bulk." Even Skull joined in the laughter.

"Shut up." Bulk brushed himself off, then exited in his usual rude form, pushing past anyone in his way.

"Anyone else?"

Several people came forward and it was the same story each time. They ended up on the mats, not seriously hurt, except maybe their pride. After the seventh person went down, there were no further volunteers. Surprisingly, neither Tommy, Jason, or Zack had answered the challenge.

"That's everyone?" He asked, staring right at Tommy. Tommy fidgeted nervously. "No prob. Thank-you all for coming and I look forward to seeing you at the tournament."

"Awesome show." Ernie congratulated the man.

"Thanks. Hit me with a bug juice."

"Sure." Ernie quickly prepared the drink, which the man finished equally as fast.

"Wow!" Ernie said "You musta been thirsty."

"One more for the road?" He asked

"Anytime." Ernie refilled his drink. "Don't worry, they're on the house." He said, watching him pat his gi, obviously forgetting that he had no pockets.

"Just remind me before I leave. I'm good for it." He leaned against the bar, savoring his beverage.

The team was discussing what they'd just witnessed amongst themselves.

"I think he's definitely a match for anyone here. Even me." Jason said

"Affirmative." Billy agreed

"I think he's kinda cute." Kim looked over at him and winked, much to the annoyance of her boyfriend.

"I'd like to take him on." Tommy said in a low voice.

"Why didn't you?" Jason asked "He was staring right at you when he asked for volunteers."

"Nah, man. Just one on one... no crowds, just him and me... man to man." Tommy answered

"Well, maybe you can set it up. He's comin' this way." Zack elbowed Tommy, causing his drink to slosh all over his arm. By the time he'd gotten it all cleaned up, they'd been joined by the unidentified male.

"Hiya."

They nodded in unison.

"I saw you watching the show and I'm hoping you can answer a question for me... who was that lard butt and why does he he act like he's God's gift to this town?"

Kim giggled.

"I don't mean to differ, but your previous statement encompasses a pair of separate inquiries." Billy interjected

"Oh-kay."

"He said that's two questions." Trini translated

"Don't mind Bulk, he tries to be cool but fails miserably." Zack replied

"Thanks. By the way, the name's Jimmy Pierce. I just moved here from New York City."

The Rangers all introduced him or herself to him.

"...and I'm Kimberly, gorgeous."

"Gorgeous, eh? I've been called a lot o' things by a lot o' people in my life, but that's a first."

An uncomfortable pause followed that statement. Tommy was still wondering if now would be a good time to step in and stop Kim's flirting. It was not that he minded her friendliness, he just wished she wouldn't do it right in front of him.

Jimmy finally broke the silence. "It's nice to finally meet some people who do not want me dead." He laughed weakly at that. "But there is a bigger reason for me bein' here. This demonstration, and the tournament, are just warm-ups. You might say I have a date with destiny."

"A date with destiny? Who? You could probably total everyone here."

"Almost. I think there's one person who could give me a real challenge, but don't worry about it." Jimmy answered

"Yeah man, who?" Jason asked

"Would you believe the Green Ranger?" Jimmy answered

The team were shocked.

"What??" Tommy blurted out. "Are you serious, man?"

"I know what you're thinking and no, I'm not being cocky. I've seen what he can do and I'm impressed. I don't impress easily. I wouldn't mind knowing who's behind the mask, either. Maybe after I defeat him, I can unmask him as well."

Tommy looked across the table to Jason, who shrugged calmly.

"How long you been trainin'?" Tommy asked, desperate to change the subject.

"Twelve years. I've modified my style several times." Jimmy emptied his glass and set it down.

"Your style is close to mine." Tommy copied several of Jimmy's moves right there at the table.

"It should be. We were in the same class for four years. I thought you might recognize me, but I guess we've both changed."

The other Rangers started talking at once, peppering Tommy with questions. "You know this guy? How? Who is he?"

"Oh, yeah, Tommy knows who I am, but the last time he saw me was eight years ago just before I left."

Tommy's jaw fell to the floor. "J.T."

"So you do remember me now?" Jimmy smiled

"Yeah. Eight years ago, this guy disappears while our class is out of state for a tournament. Everyone assumed he'd been kidnapped or something. My folks went crazy."

"Really?" Jimmy smirked "I always thought they liked you better."

"Whoa, hold on a second, Jimmy. You mean you came all this way to make a challenge to the Green Ranger?" Zack flipped the conversation back to the earlier topic.

"Yep." Jimmy reached for his glass, forgetting that it was empty. "And to get reacquainted with my brother."

"Who's that?" Kim asked, obviously not getting it. "And is he as cute as you?"

"You haven't guessed yet?" Jimmy paused "It's Tommy."

On the moon, Rita was looking intently at the scene in the Angel Grove Juice Bar, surrounded by her semi-faithful minions. She removed her face from the viewfinder and sneered.

"So, the Green Ranger has a brother. We shall capture him and make the Green Ranger return his powers to us." She laughed over-dubbedly. "Finster!"

"Yes, my Queen?" The troll-like henchmen stuck his head through the doorway.

"I need putties. Make them quickly so I may attack Angel Grove!" She gestured wildly with her staff.

"Yes, Empress." Finster walked over to his machine and began shaping the gobs of clay that would become Rita's foot soldiers.

Back at the Juice Bar, Tommy and Jimmy, or "Jate" as Tommy called him, were catching up on what had happened in each other's lives during the past eight years, with a few necessary omissions.

"Eight freakin' years, Jate. It seems like just yesterday, man, we were y'know.. .kids." Tommy gushed

"You still are, bro." Jimmy looked over Tommy's shoulder at the clock on the wall. "Oh, damn. I gotta cut this short, dude. I gotta bug out. I'm supposed to be meeting my partner for lunch and then training. Who knows, maybe the Green Ranger will make an appearance today... it seems like nice weather for a monster attack."

Tommy paled.

Jimmy headed for the changing areas as the other Rangers entered. They exchanged greetings in passing.

"Thanks for the alone time." Tommy said

"No big. But Alpha just radioed. Rita's up to something. And you know her."

"Yeah. It's like, never, good." Kim said, twirling her hair around her finger.

"Right... It's mor..." Jason said

"Not here, Jase." Tommy warned him. It had been a reasonably quiet week, attack wise. Jason had been itching for a fight and had temporarily forgotten than this wasn't like a normal Saturday. There were actually people in the Juice Bar.

"Yeah, y'know, that whole never reveal our identities thing." Zack clapped Jason on the shoulder, a goofy grin on his face.

"Brain... Saturday... don't ask?" Jason turned a similar shade to his shirt.

Jimmy returned from dressing at almost the same moment the Putties magically appeared. Many people fled, but to some, it was getting old. You could only pretend to be frightened so many times.

"Oh no, Putties!" Kim shouted, she being one of those people who'd seen it all countless times before.

"Let's take 'em." Jason shouted

Jimmy was one of the few people who hung around. This was his first putty encounter and he was torn between being scared of them and laughing at how badly they fought.

"Rita's sure sent a lot of them!" Zack said, flipping one over a rail and another onto a table.

"There's too many of them!" Kim shrieked when one actually had the nerve to touch her.

"Their quantities have definitely increased from previous encounters." Billy stated the obvious.

"Forget the Rangers. Grab him!" Rita bellowed, her fingers curling into claws.

Four of the putties looked at each other, bloopled several times, and split from the main pack. They grabbed Jimmy.

"Get off me!" Jimmy struggled against their grip. "A little help over here!" He'd picked a bad day to dress a little more New York formal than California casual.

"Jimmy!" Tommy threw a putty over the bar where Ernie was just returning with some fresh fruit. Like many others, he'd seen this before and was more bothered by the putty knocking over several glasses. The putty scrambled to his feet, and was getting ready to get back into the fight when Ernie hit him with a pineapple.

"Hold tight, bro. I'm comin'!" Tommy started clearing putties out of his way.

The four putties that were holding Jimmy all waved bye-bye and then vanished, their prey along with them.

"What was the point of that?" Zack asked

"Yeah... We didn't even get to morph." Jason sounded disappointed.

"They got Jate." Tommy panted, hands on thighs.

"We'll get him Tommy, don't worry."

"Low, man. I'm sure Zordon will have a plan to rescue him." Jason patted Tommy on the back.

"What do we do now? Rita could be holding him anywhere." Tommy looked up, confusion and worry etched across his face.

"I would suggest a return to our center of operations. Perhaps Zordon will have a viable hypothesis for us to work from." Billy suggested

"Sure. Whatever." Tommy answered, hoping he'd understood what their resident Brainiac was saying.

The six teens quickly ducked into a seldom-used alcove and teleported to the Command Center where Zordon and Alpha appeared to be working on their problem.

"Zordon... what's goin' on?" Jason asked

"Ay-yi-yi!" Alpha sputtered

"Rangers. It appears that Rita is planning to use Jimmy to get the Green Ranger back into her service. If you will not return willingly, she will use whatever means at her disposal. Watch the viewing globe."

As a group, the Rangers turned around.

"As you can see, she has sent the putties back to Earth. You must deal with them before you can begin a rescue."

"There's no time to lose! It's Morphin Time!"

"Dragonzord!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-toothed tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

In transformed form, the Rangers materialized dockside, where the putties were just standing around, actually, waiting for the Rangers to appear. Some were reading, a couple were having lunch and one was actually leaned against a building, smoking a cigarette. The newspapers, Happy Meals, and Winstons were tossed aside immediately and the fight began.

"Step two." Rita cackled from the Moon. "Finster!"

"It's ready Queen."

In the middle of the gratuitous putty butt-kicking, the team suddenly found themselves up against an old foe.

"I'm back!" A multi-tentacled apparition waved it's many arms in their general direction.

"Not again!" Kim shuddered, remembering how icky it had been the first time.

"Let's take this overgrown fruit salad!" Zack shouted

Back at the fortress, Rita was enjoying the show when the original quartet of putties returned, their captive still struggling to escape.

"What part of let go of me do you not understand, you blobs of silly putty!"

Rita pointed her staff at them, causing their instant dematerialization. The sudden lack of support threw his equilibrium off and he crashed to the floor.

"Nice flight, but I didn't care too much for the landing!" Jimmy stood, brushing dust from his sleeves. "You mind telling me what is going on?"

"Silence! You will do as I command!" Rita yelled

"Yeah, right. The day I listen to a woman is..." Jimmy's rebuttal was cut off when Rita pointed her magic staff and him and outlined him with a pale light.

"Finster, prepare him for the energy transferal." Rita turned back to watch the fight while her servants took Jimmy away, his eyes already glowing an eerie color. "Magic wand, make my monster grow!"

Back on Earth, the Rangers were dealing with things rather well until their principal foe suddenly quadrupled it's size.

"We need dinozord power, now!"

"Dragonzord power, now!" Tommy reached for his summoning dagger, but before he could he was attacked by several putties who had actually used sound battle strategy for a chance.

"Tommy, look out!" Jason shouted, but it was too late. Like Jimmy before him, the putties quickly vanished, taking with them one Green Ranger.

"So, we meet again, Green Ranger!" Rita greeted her guest, once he was securely chained up in the spooky mist-filled chamber she used for all her important visitors.

"Where's Jate?" Tommy demanded, struggling to free himself from the energy shackles that bound his hands and feet.

"Your brother... Don't worry, I assure you he's safe." She suddenly laughed with glee. "For the moment at least."

"Why, Rita? He has nothing to do with any of this." Tommy pleaded

"That is true, but you do. I offer you an exchange. Return to my side and I will set him free." Rita knew that Tommy would refuse, but in honorable villianess style, she made it anyway.

"If I say no?" Tommy asked

"Then Goldar will deal with him. I promise you it will not be nice! He will be reduced to mere memories!"

Tommy thought about his options, limited as they were. "Okay, Rita, you win!"

"I knew you would see things my way." She screeched, leaving Tommy alone in the creepy darkness.

He struggled to release himself, but whatever magic Rita had used to create his shackles was more powerful than he was. He might've been able to do something if he could've reached his dagger, but it was at his side, useless, much like how he felt.

It seemed like an eternity before someone else came down to the dungeon. The door opened and a bright light shone into the room, temporarily blinding Tommy.

"Who's there?" Tommy asked, struggling. He'd heard no commotion, so he assumed correctly that it was not a rescue party.

In fact, it was a lone figure, dressed in a suit of dark armor.

"I said who's there?" He repeated, the strength in his voice contrasting how weak he really felt.

The light from the doorway seemed to draw into whoever this was. Tom couldn't even tell if it was male or female. With an exaggerated flourish, he tore the dragon dagger from it's sheath.

"I don't think he's here to rescue me." Tommy thought

Dockside, the Rangers had finally managed to defeat the putty patrol without getting too badly beaten by the Giant Pine-Octopus.

"Only one monster to go." Zack looked up. Pine-Octopus looked down, snarling, its tentacles whipping around in a frenzy.

"Now would be a good time to have Tommy here." Jason lamented

"We don't, though." Zack answered "Let's kick it into Overdrive!"

"We need Megazord Power now!"

The Pine-Octopus obediently stood by while the Rangers' individual 'zords combined into one. Then obliged them by running straight at it. They fought, Titan to Titan for several minutes until the Megazord tossed the creature away. Pine-Octopus got back up and prepared to charge again.

"Nothing seems to be having any effect on it!"

"We need the power sword!" Jason summoned

"You think I'm afraid of your little toy!"

The Megazord showed off it's 'little toy' in a fancy light show.

"Hmmm." Pine-Octopus took a few steps back, then charged again. Megazord waited and then slashed the monster as it ran past. "No fair!" It crumbled to the ground and exploded, sparks flying everywhere.

In the cockpit, the Rangers celebrated.

"Not yet, guys." Jason said "We still have a rescue to figure out."

Tommy was trying to remain optimistic. After all, he'd been in worse situations than being completely helpless, tied up in a dungeon in who-knows-where, and possibly being moments away from oblivion, right?

"So this was Rita's Green Ranger. I am not impressed."

Tommy stared at his dagger, still being wielded by this masked man. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"I am Rita's newest creation. Much like you were once her Green Ranger, as I am now the Purple Phoenix... resurrected from the remains of the power she used to create you."

"You gotta snap outta this... Rita'll throw you away much like she did me."

"I know your history, Green Ranger. Do not think you can fool me with your deceit."

When Rita's hit man finally stepped between the blinding light and Tommy, he finally got a decent look at him. His costume was similar to Tommy's own, only with more armor around the chest and the colors were different.

"You can't trust Rita!" Tommy shouted

"Am I to assume that you were the one being deceptive when you agreed to return to her power?" The Phoenix said, using a Kata to position the dagger right at Tommy's neck. If there was any good news, it was that Tommy recognized the move set and now had a real good idea about who his enemy was, but it didn't make his current predicament any easier to get out of.

"Have you reconsidered? Rita will take over this world, it's just a question of whether I am by her side alone or both of us are."

"Listen... Jate... you don't wanna do this!"

The name caused the first crack in the Phoenix's armor to appear. He took a step back, faltering slightly. "How did you...?"

"A-Ha!" Tommy silently cheered at his small victory.

"Rita commanded me to dispose of you if you were found not to be on our side after all and I WILL carry out her wishes."

"Listen. I thought the same way. But Zordon helped me. Let me go and I'll help you."

"You really think I would turn against my Queen that easily?" Phoenix answered, bringing the blade to rest against Tommy's jugular. "It will be ironic disposing of you with your own weapon."

"Jate... listen to me!" Tommy begged

"Why do you keep calling me that. I am the Phoenix!"

"Because it's me... your brother Tommy!"

The pressure against his neck lessened as the knife was drawn back. "Tommy?"

From his body language, Tommy could tell that the part of the Phoenix that was still Jimmy was having a hard time processing this new info.

"Phoenix! Finish the prisoner off!" Rita's voice echoed throughout the chamber.

The Phoenix, or Jimmy, or whatever you want to call him right now, hesitated.

"Do it now or face my wrath!"

"As you wish, Empress." He sighed, returning the knife to rest against the Green Ranger's neck once again.

"What are you waiting for. I warn you Phoenix... I made you and I can destroy you as well!"

"My choice is clear! Thank-you Queen." Jimmy spun around and swung the dagger sharply. Upon contact with the shackles that bound them, a huge bolt of electricity shorted them out as well as coursing back through the Dagger into Jimmy's hand.

"You will pay Phoenix! Goldar! Finish them both!" Rita yelled, followed by the appearance of the gold-plated monkey man.

"You will pay for your betrayal of Empress Rita!" Goldar brandished his sword.

"Two of us... one of him. Let's take him!" Tommy said

"No prob. But I think you'll find more use for this." Jimmy picked up the Dragon Dagger with his non-singed hand.

"Awesome, man." Both men assumed fighting stance. Goldar ran toward them, but they disappeared before he could finish his attack.

"Ughhhhh. I'll get you, Green Ranger. I'll get all of you if it takes another ten thousand years! I have such a headache!" Rita threw up her hands.

Tommy and Jimmy both reappeared in the middle of Angel Grove Park, both still in costume.

"What the hell just happened?" Jimmy demanded, looking around. "How'd I get here and why am I dressed like this?" Apparently the teleportation had triggered a slight case of amnesia.

"I don't know what I can tell you, Jate." Tom answered "You got some questions that I don't have the power to answer."

"Then find me someone who can. And preferably someone who did not work for "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy". Bleech, purple."

Tommy spoke into his watch. "Zordon, what now?"

"I shall instruct Alpha to teleport you both back here immediately. The time has come for discussion. The other Rangers are waiting for you."

"Got it. We've movin' bro?"

"Oh, not again!" Jimmy groaned, still ill from the last trip. "Can't we take a bus?"

"If you wanna get there sometime tomorrow, sure. Don't worry. I threw up my first coupla times too."

"If you say so." Jimmy scrunched his eyes together.

All the other Rangers were present in normal form, having already powered down, when the brothers arrived.

"So, you're the Power Rangers, huh?" Jimmy said "Hm."

"The time has come for action. As your brother before you, Rita has given you power that can be used for either good or evil. As you now know, Rita is out to conquer the Earth at any cost. You may choose to remain with us or I can remove the power from you and return you to the Youth Center with no recollection of this encounter. If you agree to remain, there are three conditions you must agree to."

"Go ahead." Jimmy said

"The first is never use the Power for personal gain. The second, the power is to be used for defense only. Never escalate a battle unless you are forced to. And finally, never reveal your identity to anyone or you will lose the protection afforded to you." Zordon stated

"I think I can handle that." Jimmy answered

"But as for a zord..."

"It doesn't matter. I can always ride shotgun with Tommy. Looking at that ugly-looking thing he drives, I'm sure there's room for a passenger!"

"The Dragonzord is not an ugly-looking thing!" Tommy answered "Why does everyone always pick on it!"

"That will not be necessary. Alpha, give him the flute."

Alpha walked over to one of the many drawers underneath the teleportation console.

"Ay-yi-yi!" He muttered, pushing aside a can of rust spray and a teddy bear to find what he was looking for.

"With this flute, you now control Titanus." Zordon announced "Since time eternal, I have been controlling this awesome machine, but now, with the seventh Ranger prophecy having come to pass, I pass this responsibility to you."

"Nice." Jimmy stated

"To summon Titanus, use the flute Alpha have given you. Remember the sequence one-three-three-one-two-four. It will call your Zord whenever you need her."

"Got it." Jimmy quickly committed the number order to memory.

"Welcome to the team." Jason said, the other Rangers huddled around their newest member, welcoming him.

The warning sirens suddenly went off, bathing the Command Center in eerie red light.

"Ay-yi-yi. The Grid shows a large power surge."

"Rita again?" Jason asked

"Zordon, what now?" Alpha started pressing keys frantically.

"Rangers. You must teleport back to Angel Grove. You must evacuate the citizens to safety. If Alpha's readings are correct, this is the moment I have been fearing for many millennia. Rita has finally summoned..."

Zordon suddenly vanished from his time warp, leaving a very confused power team.

"Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi! Zordon, come back!" Alpha scurried about, generally panicking.

"What's goin' on?" Tommy asked

"Billy, could it be just static?" Jason asked

"Negative. The charged particles could easily dispersed by the conventional frequency modulation unit built in to the Command Center's central power unit. I fear that Rita has found a way to completely block Zordon's entrance into our dimension." Billy answered

"Oh. Cool?" Jimmy asked

"No. Not cool." Billy answered

"That's not the worst of it, ay-yi-yi-yi-yi. The Command Center is also experiencing a complete energy drain. You'd better teleport out before the whole system goes down."

"Teleport... again?" Jimmy whined

"Alpha, give him the extra communication device." Billy said

A secondary siren wailed while Alpha scurried about, looking for the extra communicator. It would save Jimmy having to be near one of the other Rangers when he needed to teleport.

"Now what! Ay-yi-yi!"

"Warning! Warning! Energy level at twenty percent. Shutdown of all non-critical systems imminent!"

"Hurry, Rangers, before it's too late!"

"We can't just leave!" Jason had to shout to be heard over the sirens.

"Warning! Warning! Energy level at fifteen percent! Shutdown of all non-critical systems in one minute!"

"I have to stay and try to maintain what I can!"

"Warning! Warning! Energy level at ten percent! Shutdown of all non-critical systems in thirty seconds... total power failure in one minute!"

"Go! While you still can!" Alpha shrieked

"Warning! Warning! Energy level at five percent. All non-critical systems beginning shutdown. Total failure of power grid in thirty seconds!"

"You heard Alpha... it's Morphin Time!"

"Dragonzord!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-toothed tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

"Titanus!"

The Rangers teleported out. Not three seconds later, the entire Grid shorted out. Alpha was now alone in a completely dark Command Center.

When they reappeared in the park, they were surrounded by people running about in total panic. Looking at the nearby tall buildings, it was obvious that the same power drain that had affected the Command Center was also in effect here.

"I have never seen things this bad." Trini said

"We need to..." Jason was knocked over, mid-speech, buy a frenzied Angel Grovian.

"Rangers" Jason quickly jumped to his feet. "Clear the park as fast as you can and then meet back here!"

"Right!" They chorused, splitting up to aid the citizens.

The sky suddenly darkened, and the winds picked up. It looked like a storm was coming and the Rangers were in the way. Near one of the picnic areas, Bulk and Skull were eating yet again, paying little attention to the weather, but Bulk did look up when the Red Ranger was almost on top of him.

"What do you want?" With a deliberate effort, Bulk took a bite of his huge sandwich.

"I've got to get you to safety!"

"Who are you? My mother?" Bulk retorted

"Yeah!" Skull sneered

"For once, would you listen to someone else. Something's coming..."

A sudden crash of thunder propelled Skull into Bulk's arms.

"Not cut that out." Bulk pushed Skull away and looked at his now-ruined lunch.

"Follow me." Jason said, seriously re-thinking his career choice. Of all the Rangers, he got stuck dealing with these two.

"How do we know this isn't just a bit of wind?" Bulk demanded

"If this was just wind, do you think that..."

A flash of lightning struck the statue of the town founder in the middle of the spark, decapitating it, followed by a loud crash of thunder.

"As I was saying..." A loud creak to Jason's left caused his to turn. A large elm was tumbling right toward them. "Drop!"

Bulk and Skull stared at the approaching tree, making scared noises.

"C'mon, move!" Jason pushed Bulk and Skull out of the way. The tree landed squarely on Jason, crushing him beneath it's massive bulk.

Speaking of Bulk, he and Skull stared at the tree. They were about to attempt a rescue when another crash of thunder scared them. They ran out of the park without a second thought. Meanwhile, near the charred statue, the other Rangers waited impatiently for their leader.

"What's taking Jason so long? He should've returned by now." Trini looked worried. (Okay, so her helmet made worried motions as she spoke!)

"This freak storm is gonna hit soon! He better get his Ranger butt back here and fast!" Zack also sounded "worried".

"We gotta find him. Whatever Rita's plan is, this storm is great cover. We don't even have zord access until power is restored to the Grid."

"So, we're basically screwed, do I read you right?" Jimmy asked

"Exactly, Jate." Tommy answered "Without zord power, we need all the manpower we can get."

"Guys, if that's the case, shouldn't we be, like, lookin' for Jason?" Kim asked, huddling a little closer to the Green Ranger with each passing moment.

"Affirmative. We can accomplish this task with greater haste if we once more separate into our component entities."

"Translation, please?" Jimmy asked

"We'll find Jason faster if we split up." Trini clarified

"Affirmative." Billy repeated

"Why didn't you just say that?" If one could see inside the Purple Ranger's helmet, you could see Jimmy's eyes roll back in his head. He too was starting to seriously question his choice of career.

They separated.

"We'll never find him in this mess." Jimmy grumbled. "Any of you guys having any luck?"

No reply. The comm was dead.

"System must be completely powerless."

A bolt of lightning struck the ground only a few feet from where he stood, sending a tingle right through his body.

"That was too close." Jimmy backed up a few steps and fell over a large tree.

"What the hell is a tree doing here?" He yelled, brushing himself off. He wasn't hurt physically, only a little embarrassed. He sat down on the trunk, pondering his next move.

"If anyone can hear me, I'm heading back to where we started." Jimmy shouted into his comm, even though it still seemed to be without power.

"I guess not." He jumped down and saw a flash of red pinned beneath the leaves.

"There's somebody under here." He got down on his haunches and pushed some of the foliage aside. "So that's where you got to."

Jimmy grabbed what he could and heaved, trying to roll the tree aside. If there was one thing the powers didn't provide, it was super strength. He could barely move it.

"Plan B... plan B... aha... maybe if I can get at his battle blaster, I can cut him free." Jimmy reached in, feeling for roughly where he knew the Rangers carried their side arms.

"Just another inch... c'mon, where is it?" He was thankful that Jason was unconscious because Jimmy was pretty sure he'd just groped the leader of the team while trying to reach his weapon. "I got it!" He pulled the Blaster out, mentally swearing at the fact that all the other Rangers had really nice weapons, when all he got was a stupid flute.

Three well-placed shots and Jimmy was able to extricate Jason.

"You okay, Red?" He asked, placing his fingers on Jason's wrist. "I hope you don't weigh too much, buddy."

He picked up Jason and carried him, fireman's rescue style, back to the rendez-vous point. Only Tommy was there.

"I found him!" Jimmy shouted over a loud hiss as rain started to pelt the city. "Where are the others?"

"I sent them to the plaza! Is Jason alright?" Tommy asked

"I dunno. I'm taking him to the hospital just to be safe. Where's the closest?"

"They set up an emergency shelter at the Juice Bar. It's only five minutes from here." Tommy had to shout to be heard over the storm.

"Tommy, take cover with the others and tell them what happened. We're gonna need a plan. I'll take Jason over to the Youth Center. Is your comm working?"

"Nah, man. We lost them when the Command Center shut down all non-critical systems." Tommy answered

"I'll call you when we arrive." Jimmy shifted his load slightly and took off in the downpour. Tommy waited for only a minute before he ran in the other direction.

"...and Jate took him to the Juice Bar for help. That's all I know." Tommy finished.

"Ideas?" Tommy asked

"Negative." Billy replied "This situation has far too many variables to formulate a sound battle stratagem."

"I knew I shoulda stayed in bed." Zack fumed "No Zordon, no power, no nothing. We're no better off than anyone else right now."

If only we knew what Rita was up to." Tommy responded "Then maybe we'd have a chance of fighting it."

What was Rita up to? Well, shortly after losing control of her Phoenix in less time than it had taken to capture Jimmy, Rita's temper was very short.

"I need a spell... no, I used that one last week... how about...? No, that one turned Squatt into an aardvark and I wasted all day trying to reverse it. How about this? No, too expensive... too ugly... too stupid... I've got it!" She cheered

This cheer brought Finster from the anteroom. "That is good news, my Queen, but I hope it isn't contagious. You know how my monster creating abilities suffer when I am sick..."

"Shut up, you moron! I've finally found the answer to my problems. I don't know why I didn't think of this a long time ago. Pudgy Pigs, Terror Toads, Pine-Octopuses, they never worked, but I guarantee that this one will. I call on the power of Chaos!"

Flashing back to the present, Kim was staring outside when she suddenly gasped "Guys, you might wanna see this..."

The others crowded around.

"What is that?" Zack asked

"I'm no expert in weather phenomena, but it looks like a localized rupture in the fabric of space."

"I see." Tommy lied, now wishing he hadn't fallen asleep during his science classes.

As the Rangers stared, a familiar face appeared in the skies above.

"Not him again." Trini groaned

"Lokar. What do we do about him this time?"

"I have not formulated a specific battle plan to deal with the entity, but since I know with whom we will be engaged in conflict, I'm sure I can postulate something." Billy replied

"Power Rangers?" A portly woman came over to them. "I know this might sound strange to you, but there's a phone call for one of you."

"This whole day has been strange." Tommy answered "I'll take it." He followed the matronly lady over to a desk. Power was failing all over town, but for now the phones still worked.

"Hello?" He asked

"Yo, Green Ranger, I made it." It was their comrade.

"What's your report?"

"You really need to talk to Zordon about improving the Power suits."

"Whaddaya mean, they've worked fine up till now." Tommy answered

"Well, they sure didn't help today." Jimmy retorted

"Dude, you've been a Ranger for less than a day, and already you're complaining..."

"The Red Ranger is dead." Jimmy interrupted "The tree crushed him. Even with his Power suit. Maybe if I'd gotten to him sooner..."

"You tried your best. That's all we demand from any of the team." Comforting words were not coming to him, so Tommy tried to remember what Jason had once told him after he'd screwed up massively.

"I still let the team down." Jimmy sighed "My first day, and I'm burying a teammate."

"You're down?... I get to tell everyone else. That's the tough part. We're already on edge." Tommy said

"Yeah. Rita's sure outdone herself this time."

"Yeah. Bil... I mean the Blue Ranger has an idea of how to defeat this monster, but I think he was counting on all of us." Tommy quickly covered his slip. Too many people around.

"Well, I'm gonna stay here and see if there's anything I can do." Jimmy answered

"Okay. We'll call back when we have something to report."

"Okay." Jimmy hung up the phone. "Well, that was easy." He said to the man standing beside him. "So, what's the next step?"

Tommy walked across the plaza to the others. It was unfortunate that his face was covered or the others might've been able to figure out how bad things had just become without an explanation; one that Tommy did not want to give.

"Dude, what's up?" Zack asked

Tommy took a deep breath. "Good news is Purple made it back in once piece..."

"Uh oh." Trini muttered, her woman's intuition kicking in.

"Yeah, uh oh. Red didn't make it."

There were several moments of silence while the team members let the implications of this sink in.

"We should go back to the Youth Center. We need to work together on this." Tommy gritted his teeth. The whole situation was making him angrier by the second.

The Rangers arrived back at the Juice Bar, sopping wet. Two things to keep in mind... one: the Power Suits are not good protection against being crushed by a twenty foot tree and two: they aren't waterproof.

"We... made... it..." Zack leaned against the wall, out of breath. Teleportation from point A to B had jaded them all. To a person, they were out of breath from running across town.

"There he is." Jimmy was leaning against a wall. With his helmet on, they couldn't tell what he was thinking, or even if he was awake.

"Hey, bro." Tommy said

"I'd thought you would've stayed at the plaza." From his startled reaction, it was obvious that Jimmy's eyes were closed.

"We need to be together right now." Kim patted his glove for reassurance.

"I swear that if I ever get my hands on Rita, I'll pop her head like a pimple." Jimmy growled

"Take a number, man." Zack clapped him on the back.

"We'd all like to, but we have a bigger problem right now. We know what we're dealing with."

"You've dealt with this... thing before?" Jimmy demanded

"Yeah, we need Ultrazord to slam it last time." Zack added

"And right now, that is not an option." Tommy answered

"So, like, what do we do?" Kim asked

"I have another hypothesis. Since we cannot tap into the Grid to bring our zords to us, maybe be can get to our zords???" Billy suggested

"Can we do that?"

"It's worth a shot." Tommy stated

"But even assuming we can, how're we gonna power them up when and if we get to 'em?" Always the optimist, Zack was quite to point out a possible fatal flaw in their plan.

"Our power coins. Since we are still in morphed form, it is a safe assumption that they are still operational. Therefore, the power crystals should also be functioning."

"Right." Jimmy answered "Sounds reasonable, even though I have no clue what you're talking about."

"We'll explain on the way." Tommy answered

"Next question... how do we get to them?" Trini asked

"We'll take my car." Billy replied "The Rad Bug is still operational."

"Okay, now I'm really lost... what the hell is a Rad Bug?" Jimmy groaned, wishing that there was a new Ranger's manual. Crystals, Rad Bugs, it was getting to be too much information.

"Billy's Volkswagen."

"And it will fit six, will it?"

"Enough yap, let's fly!" Zack shouted

"Right! Let's go." Tommy seemed to take the position of de facto leader. They followed him out into the storm, hoping that Billy's plan would work. If not, it was gonna be a real long day.

"Here's your stop. We've locked on to Titanus' power signature and her proximity should be close..."

"Got it." Jimmy crawled out of the car. "I'll see you back in town as soon as I can."

The Rag Bug flew away, leaving Jimmy in the middle of hurricane-force winds.

"Where did he say that cave was?" Jimmy looked around for a cave large enough to hide a twenty-ton machine. There was only one nearby.

"This better be it." He sprinted for the entrance. Inside it, he found the large carrier zord.

"Remind me of a kitten I once owned."

Titanus suddenly roared, her eyes flashing.

"Relax. I'm on your side now. I'm not gonna hurt you." Jimmy cautiously approached. He felt a lot better when he was standing beside the large machine, and was still intact. He'd been afraid that if Titanus got spooked, she might eat him.

After a few minutes investigating, Jimmy found an access hatch and climbed aboard. Titanus was unique in that she was a hybrid of computer circuitry and organic components. For instance, it had a central computer console, but when it went off-line, it relied on circuits that fired in much the same way that neurons fired in the human brain.

"I wonder if there's an instruction manual." Jimmy sat down behind the main console and surveyed the numerous gauges, knobs, and readouts.

Titanus made noise that sounded like a whine.

"Must be tired or something. Fortunately I got your catnip right here." Jimmy activated his power crystal and stuck it in the appropriate slot. Once he'd thrown the correct levers, Titanus was rolling.

All six remaining team members arrived back within moments of each other. Huddling underneath Zack's Mastodon, where they were somewhat sheltered from the storm, they discussed possible plans of attack.

"Any ideas? Billy?" Tommy asked

"Since our previous encounter required the use of the Ultrazord..."

"Which we can't do because we can't power up Jason's tyrannosaurus..." Zack interrupted

"That does present a quandary." Billy said

"Can't we use that thing with the Dragonzord when it combines with those other zords?" Jimmy asked

"You mean the Dragonzord in fighting mode?" Zack asked

"Yeah, that... hoof it in Titanus and maybe we got somethin'?" Jimmy asked

"He has put forth an interesting stratagem." Billy pondered

"Like, excuse me. What about me... that's awesome and everything, but my Pterodactyl would be useless."

"You wanna ride with me?" Tommy asked. Zack and Billy also offered similar accommodations. Kim rolled her eyes... she knew the guys just wanted her alone, or so she thought.

Jimmy also has similar ideas, but he was more genteel about it. He dropped to one knee, as if proposing marriage. "Most fair Pink Ranger... Titanus and I would be most honored if you would accept this humble invitation to ride shotgun with us. It would also assist me as I have never driven anything this big before."

"Finally. A real gentleman." Kim and Jimmy entered Titanus. At the door, he gave the other Rangers a cocky thumbs-up gesture.

"He's not seriously thinkin' about what I think he's thinkin' about." Tommy demanded

"Ya think?" Zack added flippantly.

"Let's us assemble the Dragonzord in fighting mode and see if the firepower is sufficient to conquer this evil force."

"Yeah, let's kick some monster butt."

If you've seen the Dragonzord transform into this particular mode once, then you've seen it once too often. Yawn! Anyway...

From her lair Rita watched as her Chaos monster wreaked havoc on downtown Angel Grove. As a side point, insurance premiums for buildings in Angel Grove had gone up three hundred percent since the Day of the Dumpster. If Rita had only worked with the Insurance companies, she could've bought the planet in a few short months.

"Finally, I will destroy the Power Rangers and then Earth will be mine!"

Squatt, ever the optimist, piped in with "What if this Chaos monster fails?"

"This time, it won't." Rita screamed. Squatt cowered in a corner.

Back on Earth, at best it was even... at worse, the Rangers were running out of ideas.

"How do we stop this thing?" Tommy demanded "Billy? Any bright ideas?"

"Negative. Rita's monster is successfully countering every one of our tactics."

A cloud of strong winds enveloped them, knocking the Dragonzord on it's back and flipping Titanus like a pancake.

"Guys, this is crazy!" Jimmy said, upside down in Titanus' control room. "I dunno what you got left, but another flip like that and Titanus is gonna need some serious body work. I've already lost two stabilizers and the left tread is shot."

"It's toying with us. Rita knows we can't defeat it without going to Ultrazord."

"We can't do Ultrazord." Tommy banged his console "I keep telling you that."

"That's what you think." Jimmy muttered, tapping his keyboard. "Plan B, Jase."

From somewhere across the ethereal plane thundered the Tyrannosaurus dinozord, the not-quite-dead-yet Red Ranger at the helm.

"Begin Ultrazord transformation sequence now!" Jason shouted

Rita's eyes bulged upon the appearance of the Red Ranger. "You told me he was dead?" She pointed at Goldar.

"Aren't you supposed to be...?" Zack asked

"Later... let's do this!"

In moments, the Ultrazord stood full battle-ready, nose to nose with Rita's Chaos monster.

"Fire all weapons on my signal."

"Back from the dead not two minutes and he's already giving orders." Jimmy muttered

"Problem down there, Purple?" Jason asked

"Uh, no, commander. I'm just having a little trouble keeping Titanus steady. She took a few bad hits earlier." Jimmy answered, reminding himself to next time turn off the internal comm link before complaining.

"Ready?" Jason asked

"Ready!" The team chorused, complete with synchronous hand movements.

"Two... one... mark!"

Seven hands pressed seven buttons, firing everything they had at the entity. For a moment, it looked like it was going to take this attack like every other, but, like many previous monsters, it exploded.

Celebrations ensured in the Ultrazord command module.

Rita was not happy, needless to say. "All I wanted to do was conquer a planet! Is that too much to ask? Ugh, I get stuck with the biggest bunch of morons in the galaxy! Ohhh, my head hurts!"

The Rangers' celebration was short-lived; Alpha interrupted them.

"What is it Alpha?" Just the fact that he was able to contact them was good news in itself.

"Power Rangers. I have restored the main Power Grid and the Command Center is now fully functional."

"Awesome."

"And Zordon wants you back here immediately..."

"What did we do wrong this time?" Zack asked

"We're on our way." They teleported out, saving another long walk. Though, with Rita's monster destroyed, the weather patterns seemed to return to normal right away.

"Rangers... you battled against seemingly insurmountable odds, yet you managed to defeat yet another of Rita's monsters. I am proud of you all."

"Yep, just another day for the greatest team in the universe!" Zack gushed

"As long as Rita continues to attack the planet, Zordon, you can count on us." Jason responded

"Now that's what I call job security." Jimmy sighed, cleaning some residue from his helmet.

"I still don't get it, man, what was up with that plan?" Tommy asked

"How did ya know that we were gonna be able to win?" Zack also asked

"Simple. Jimmy, why don't you explain it to them. It was all your idea."

"Okay." He set the helmet down on the console. "This is what I figured... Rita has never been able to defeat you... hell, she's never even come close with any of her monsters. So, what if we gave her a situation where she had a distinct advantage? Answer: she got too over-confident and fast. Despite all her magic, she wasn't trying to win or she would've pressed the attack instead of putting her monster on the defense most of the time... Tommy, how many times did that thing have us close to the end?"

"Three, maybe four, man."

"Exactly. After the first two times were we down and almost out, it was 'okay, why doesn't she finish us off'? So, it was just a matter of waiting until she was too set in her strategy to be able to adapt quickly enough." Jimmy continued "Boom! Bring in Jase, hit Ultrazord, she can't counter fast enough and voila! Rita's monster goes splat!"

"Cool." Zack nodded in appreciation. "I never woulda thought of that."

"I guess that's why Rita chose me. Too bad the bonds of brotherhood overpowered her control."

"Yeah, welcome to the team, bro."

"Power Rangers!" (Group Cheer)

The following Monday, the team was relaxing, enjoying another one of Ernie's surprise concoctions at the Juice Bar.

"Hey gang, did you read the paper? Apparently there's a new Power Ranger."

"Another one? Wow, man, they're increasing like rabbits." Zack winked "How many we got now? Couple hundred at least, right?"

"Can I see that?" Jimmy took the paper and was reading about himself until Bulk tore the paper from his grip and crumpled it into a ball.

"Alright geek, it's time for our rematch." Bulk tossed the paper behind him. "Time me."

"Okay." Jimmy stood up. Bulk charged him.

"Hey, man, your shoelace is untied again." Tommy pointed.

"So it is." Jimmy knelt down and Bulk flew past, splattering himself into a wall. He fell down, dazed.

"Two point three seconds." Skull laughed "You're getting better."

"You shouldn't feel too bad, Bulk. One of these days I'm sure you're gonna last longer. At least... three seconds." Jimmy smiled, sitting back down.

"Come on, let's go." Bulk pulled Skull away, mumbled something about a future battle.

"Will he ever learn?" Kim asked

"I've seen beached whales fight better." Jimmy said, sniggering.

"That's Bulk for you... The Moby Dick of Angel Grove."

"Now he's the one I wish HAD gotten away." Tommy said

Laughter ensued. If this was an episode of the TV series, you'd roll the closing credits right now.

End

Let me know what you think... there are more episodes if you want leading right through MMPR, Zeo, and into Turbo.


	2. Chapter 2

A Necessary Question

This take place several days following Jimmy's debut as the Purple Ranger. Ultrazord power had not been needed for several battles and he was starting to wonder about his use as a Ranger...

Kimberly was walking down main street, on her way to school when she heard a car horn. Thinking it was someone being fresh, she turned with a biting comment ready but then saw it was Jimmy... Tommy's brother and recent addition to the Power Team.

"Hey, gorgeous... since that brother of mine isn't around, do you want a lift?" Jimmy offered

"Sure." Kim climbed into his convertible and smoothed her skirt over her legs before buckling in. "Nice wheels."

"Thanks, just got it today. I figured if I am going to be commuting back and forth between here and school, it would be a lot less cheaper to have my own set of wheels. And a lot less conspicuous, if you get me?" He dropped the top. "Let's cruise."

As they drove down main, Kim noticed something was off with Jimmy. He normally talked non-stop, but today he was rather sullen and quiet.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Kim asked when they had to stop at a red light.

"Stuff. What do you think?"

"About what?" Kim paused to study her hair in the visor mirror.

"Nothin' special. Y'know, life, school, me being a Ranger..."

"Life's fine, school reeks, and I think Zordon made a good choice by letting you join the team. Why?"

"I dunno. Maybe I'm just having adjustment problems, but I don't think I fit in and it doesn't help that I'm not needed very often. I'm starting to wonder if I should've told Zordon to send me back." Jimmy drove on.

"You'll do fine. It took us all a while to figure out where we fit in." Kim patted Jimmy's leg. "It's gonna work out, just you see."

The light finally changed and Jimmy sped through the intersection.

"You're probably right. As usual, my mouth opens before my brain can tell it not to."

As they drove toward school, Kim noticed a familiar red shirt walking down the sidewalk. "Isn't that Jason?" She asked

Jimmy squinted. "I think so. See if he wants a ride?" He pulled alongside Jason and slowed down.

"Hey, Jason?" Kim shouted

Jason turned. "Huh... oh, hi Kim."

"Wanna ride with me and Jimmy? He's takin' me to school."

"Thanks, but I got stuff to do before school."

Before Jimmy could even offer to take him wherever he was going, and ultimately find out what the leader of the Power Team thought of his newest teammate, Jason took off, running toward the nearby park.

"I guess not." Jimmy pulled away from the curb.

"Did you see that? Something's got him spooked. I've never seen him that nervous." Kim stared behind her as they drove away.

"I noticed." Jimmy replied

They arrived at the High School just in time for the first bell.

"Gotta dash. Thanks for the lift." Kim gathered her books.

"No problem. Anytime." Jimmy replied watching her scurry into school. "Dammit, I gotta watch myself. That is my brother's girlfriend. Lord, life is complicated."

At lunchtime, Jimmy was still in the area. "I wonder what I'll do for lunch?" He thought out loud, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. "That'll do." Up ahead, the Youth Center loomed. "I hear Ernie makes a really good Pita."

Jimmy walked inside and immediately saw Kim, Billy, and Zack sitting at a table in the far corner. From their body language, it was obvious that Billy was trying to explain something to the other two and they weren't getting it. He grabbed his sandwich and was on his way over to them when he accidentally bumped into someone going the other way, a full tray in his hands.

"Jason?" Jimmy asked "What's up?"

If Jason looked nervous that morning, he now looked ten times worse. He dropped his tray on the floor and ran out the side door.

Jimmy sighed. Half of Jason's Salisbury Steak with potatoes had ended up on him. "I just had this jacket cleaned."

He stuffed his uneaten sandwich into a pocket and chased after Jason.

"What was that?" Zack asked

"What was what?" Kim asked

"It looked like Jason just threw his lunch at Jimmy." Zack said

"That is an unusual occurrence." Billy interjected "But could we continue with the curriculum?"

Jimmy finally caught up with Jason, park side, and tackled him when it was obvious that Jason was not going to stop to talk.

"Jason... wait... a... minute!" They rolled around in a tangle of arms and legs before Jimmy pulled them both to their feet. "What is with you?"

Jason refused to answer, choosing instead to brush non-existent dirt from his clothing.

"You ain't the nervous type, man. What's goin' on?" Jimmy demanded again.

Jason suddenly glanced behind Jimmy, like he saw someone he knew. Jimmy also turned, and that's when Jason took off again.

"Jason!" Jimmy just watched him go, not having the strength or desire to go chasing after him again. "Screw you if that's the way you're gonna act!"

He walked back to his car, threw his soiled coat into the backseat, and drove home. He pulled into his driveway and got out, still angry at Jason for both his actions and his attitude.

"I don't f'in believe him!" He shouted

"You don't believe who, Jate." Tommy asked

"Dammit, bro. Don't do that." Jimmy started

"Sorry, man. Who don't you believe?" Tommy repeated his question.

"Jason, our esteemed leader. Hell, Tom, you've known him longer than I have... is the the type of guy to get overly anxious about anything? The one battle I had with you guys he seemed totally in control."

"If he does, I've never seen it man."

"I didn't think so." Jimmy grabbed his ruined jacket from the back of the car and looked at it with disgust. "Eighty bucks down the toilet there."

"Why d'ya ask?"

"You seen the dude, lately? He's jumpin' at shadows." Jimmy brought his brother up to date on the day's earlier activities.

"Like I said, I hadn't noticed anything, but I've been here since before lunch so maybe he got some bad news this morning or something." Tommy answered

"Possible. Don't you have class or did you get suspended again?" Jimmy grabbed his mail.

"Just one class today." Tommy replied

"Lucky you." The reasons behind this was none of Jimmy's business, and he didn't want to know in case it was more teenage recklessness on Tommy's part. "But why hang out here? Don't you usually work out with your free time."

"No one to work out with." Tommy answered "I figured maybe if you weren't doin' anything, we could catch a flick or something?" What he really wanted was to spend more time with Jimmy. Since that first day, their paths had rarely crossed.

"Maybe later, bro. Right now, I'd like to know what is Jason's problem. I don't like having people throw food at me. He ruined my jacket."

Tommy shrugged. He hadn't worn a jacket since he'd arrived in Angel Grove. Both men entered Jimmy's house. This was the first time Tommy had seen it.

"Wow, man. You live here? How can you afford it?" Tommy whistled

"The inheritance." Jimmy answered "I invested my share and bought this place when I realized I was gonna come back."

"I like it." Tommy replied

"It works for me.... argh!" Jimmy tossed the mail on his table. "There has to be a logical explanation for Jason."

"Dude, you gotta chill out. If you want logic, talk to Billy. He's the brains of this team." Tommy sensed Jimmy's angst. He was also a little curious as to Jason's sudden change of attitude.

"Would you mind talkin' to him? I don't understand a word he says half the time."

"Me... Jate, what makes you think I know what he's sayin' any better than you do?" Tommy retorted "I guess we could get Trini to translate."

Jimmy chuckled. "Any way we can get everyone together? Maybe one of them has heard something."

"I assume when you said everyone, you meant everyone except Jase, right?" Tommy leaned "I think so. We've never excluded someone before."

"Only one way to find out... Alpha, you there...?"

"Ay-yi-yi. Purple Ranger, I'm always vigilant. Is there a problem?"

"I know this is highly irregular, and possible against the rules, but can you teleport everyone except the Red Ranger to my present location about five hours from now?" Jimmy asked, crossing his fingers while Alpha digested the request.

"This is most unusual..."

"Alpha, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't serious." Jimmy added "Just this once?"

"Alright, I will do it this time, but the teleportation is not to be used for personal use." Alpha signed off.

Later that afternoon, Zack, Trini, Billy, and Kim appeared in Jimmy's kitchen one by one.

"What's up?" Kim asked

"Has Rita attacked again?" Trini queried

"Nothing quite as boring as that Trini." Tommy answered. At Jimmy's request, he was taking the lead at the meeting.

"Can you expedite this discussion? I was re-polarizing several unstable isotopes which must be attended to diligently or they may produce disastrous consequences." Billy asked

"What?" Jimmy blurted out.

"Anyway guys, Jimmy called this meeting to ask if you'd noticed the changes in Jase?"

Everyone to a Ranger nodded.

"Where is Jason anyway? Shouldn't he be here?" Trini asked

"Like, last time I saw him, he was running east on West Southmoor avenue... or was that west on South Eastmoor avenue... y'know, maybe it was south on..."

Trini interrupted, thankfully. "Why don't we just teleport him here? Maybe he'll explain himself."

Jimmy and Tommy looked at each other.

"After the rules I bent to get you here, it ain't gonna happen if I want to keep my job, such as it is." Jimmy leaned back in his chair, his nagging inferiority complex returning.

"Since Jase hasn't been willing to tell any of us what's goin' on, I don't think bringing him here would be a good idea." Tommy replied

"I agree." Jimmy said "Until he trusts one of us enough to tell us what's up, bringing him here won't help. At least that's my opinion."

"I concur." Billy stated

"I think I actually understood that." Jimmy said "Anyway, before you go can I show you something? I just had it made and I wondered what you all thought about it for my car."

Jimmy led his comrades into the garage and grabbed a large stencil from the back corner. "This is what I'm thinking of doing. One on the hood and a smaller version on the trunk and side panels."

"The colour scheme effective focuses attention on the piece as a whole." Billy said

"I like it too." Trini said, noticing familiar blank looks on several of the others, Jimmy most noticeably.

The pattern was a lightning bolt striking a prism and breaking off into seven beams of light: red, yellow, blue, green, pink, black, and purple.

"Kinda symbolic, huh... slammin'." Zack said

"Y'know, I just realized that the only person on this team I can talk to without needing translation is Tommy." Jimmy said "What a group."

"I get it." Tommy said "The seven beams are the seven of us, the lightning represents the Power, but what does this middle part mean?"

"It's a circular prism. When light hits a prism, it splits. Now before you correct me Billy, I am quite aware that there is no such thing as refracted black light. But we can't do anything about the fact that Zordon has no sense of color. After all, I am still wearing purple." Jimmy explained

"But, your explanation is inaccurate..."

"Billy, I'm sure none of us really need a lecture of refractive theory, so can we leave it at that, huh?" Jimmy said "Anyone want to help me paint?"

All of the others, with the exception of Tommy, begged off, saying they had things to do.

"I don't mind stayin'." Tommy said "It'll give me somethin' to do."

"You really are trying to make up for all that time away?"Jimmy asked

"Yeah." Tommy replied

"Cool."Jimmy went back inside to change while Tommy stared at the stencils. When he came back out, they set to the painting in earnest. While they painted, they talked more about what had gone on in their lives over the past eight-plus years. Tommy could be more open about things his end now that Jimmy was also a member of the Rangers.

They had completed both the hood and trunk decals and were just starting on the red stripes down each side when Tommy suddenly stopped talking. Jimmy looked up, saw that Tommy's expression had changed and whirled around, almost expecting Rita to be standing there. It might've been easier to deal with the situation if it had been Rita there, but it wasn't. It was Jason and he looked really unhappy. About what, nobody knew.

"Jason? What are you doing here, man? I thought you were avoiding us." Tommy still had a shocked expression.

"Tommy, you're dripping paint." Jimmy hissed

"Sorry Jate. I'll clean it up." Tommy disappeared into the garage to search for some old rags.

"Jimmy, can I talk to you... alone?" Jason asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Sure, I guess. Tommy, I'll be right back." He shouted in the direction of the garage, not exactly sure where Tommy had gone to.

Jason and Jimmy strolled around the back of the property. There was something that Jason wanted to get off his chest, but Jimmy wasn't going to force the issue. When Jason was ready to talk, he would.

"Listen, man, I wanna apologize for ruinin' your jacket and for runnin' away. I owe everyone some answers, but I really need to talk to you first." Jason stared off into the distance."

"Jason, I know that something has to be really buggin' you for behavior like that." Jimmy answered "And we're all your friends... I'm sure they just want to help..."

"I'm listening."

"I... I..." Jason stuttered "I've been having problems at home. It's my folks. They fight almost every night."

"I see." Jimmy sat down on the bottom step and motioned for Jason to sit beside him.

"It's now where if somethin' small goes wrong, they get into it. Bills are late, dinner isn't perfect, stuff like that..."

"God, Jase, why didn't you say something sooner?" Jimmy gasped

"And last night they dragged me into the middle of it. They asked me to chose sides!"

Jason buried his face in his hands.

"Jason, I am so sorry, dude. If I had known..."

"How could you? I've been keeping it a secret but it's just too much for me now. That, and the Rangers, school, my karate classes... I'm at my breaking point." Jason's shoulders shook and Jimmy could see how close Jason was to losing complete control.

"Why'd you run, man? Did you think we wouldn't understand?" Jimmy was still confused by Jason's earlier actions.

"I needed to get away from everything and everyone. Y'know, try to sort things out. If I'd tried explaining this earlier, I'd probably have started cryin' like a kid." Jason brought his hand to his eyes.

"Jase, I wish I knew the right words to make this all go away, but I don't. The best I can do is tell you that if you need someone to talk to, my door is always open. I'm just a communicator away." He tapped his wrist.

"Yes, Purple Ranger?" Alpha asked

"Sorry, Alpha, wrong number." Jimmy quickly tapped his comm again. "Oops. Remind me never to do that again."

Jason smiled. It was good to see an expression other than angst on his face. "Thanks."

"Anytime, man." Jimmy clapped Jason on the back.

"Now I gotta tell the others." Jason sighed

"In your own time, dude." Jimmy answered "Even though my bro is probably wondering what's goin'on."

"I probably should talk to Tommy right away." Jason said

"Whatever happens with my brother and the guys, I'm right behind you. Don't ever forget that."

Tommy was dabbing at the passenger door, still trying to get all the drips off without ruining the rest of the design.

"Lemme take care of that, bro." Jimmy offered

"I got it Jate." Tommy replied

"Jase needs a word with you." Jimmy plucked the rag from Tommy's hand and pushed him away.

Jimmy tried not to eavesdrop while Jason spilled his guts to Tommy, but since he'd already heard the story, he didn't pay too much attention to it.

"Jase, no matter what they say, it isn't your fault bro." Tommy said when Jason had finished his explanations. "You know we're here to help."

Their communicators beeped. Jason was still a little too emotional to respond without Alpha asking a lot of unnecessary questions, so Tommy responded.

"Go ahead, Zordon. I read you."

"Power Rangers, I need you to teleport to the Command Center immediately." Zordon said

The trio teleported in, and were joined by their comrades shortly.

"What's Rita done this time?" Zack asked

"Rangers... I have both good and bad news for you. Rita has not sent a monster to Earth. Yet. But the Grid shows a build up of evil energy. This usually occurs when Rita has cast one of her spells. I believe that there will be a battle in the near future, and one that might have terrible results for the planet as well as you Rangers." Zordon announced

"What kind of results?" Jason asked

"She may enslave the planet and some of you may not be returning."Zordon stated

"What do you mean not returning... you mean, like captured?" Kim asked

"I think he means like dead." Jimmy interjected

"Do not fear Purple Ranger. I have every confidence in your abilities as a team to defeat Rita's evil." If that was meant to boost their confidence, it didn't.

"Who says we're afraid?" Jimmy asked

"Anything else, Zordon?" Jason said

"I felt it necessary to warn you of the impending danger."Zordon replied "Alpha will teleport you back to your respective locations until you are needed."

Zordon disappeared back to Eltar to continue monitoring the situation.

"That was a complete waste of time." Jimmy complained "Why couldn't he have told us over the comm instead of dragging us up here?"

"You still don't like teleporting, do ya bro?" Tommy guessed

"No. I have a problem with my molecules being zapped from here to there and back. I'm afraid that some time I'll reappear as a toadstool or something equally as useful."

The other Rangers laughed

"Well, how would you like to come back as a three-toed sloth Billy. Although, you might have a better chance at getting a date." Jimmy snorted

"You're cheap attempt at levity leaves much to be desired." Billy rebutted

"I know it did. That's why I said it." Jimmy answered

"Teleportation ready Rangers." Alpha announced

"Let's get this over with." Jimmy grumbled

The team teleported back to their original locales without incident, something their newest member was always thankful for.

"I wonder if the paint is dry yet?" Jimmy dabbed at the design on the hood.

"Well?"

"Another hour or so and it should be ready." Jimmy wiped his hand on a cloth.

"Well, I gotta get home or there's gonna be another fight." Jason said "I'm already late."

"Dude, take it easy and don't let it get to you." Tommy said

"And remember what I said earlier as well." Jimmy added

Jason nodded. His confidence he'd displayed in the Command Center was completely destroyed now that he had to face his own personal demons.

Later that night, Jimmy was working out in his private gym. He'd only recently begun serious training. Since he was a few years older than the rest of the team, he felt that he'd need whatever edge he could and secondly, he'd recently seen Tommy shirtless and he was jealous.

"46... 47... 48... 49... 50... unghhh!" He dropped the barbell to the floor with a bang and had just reached for his Gatorade when he heard footsteps on his front steps, followed by and urgent banging on his door.

"Who can it be now?" Jimmy sang softly, draping his towel around his neck and running up the stairs two at a time.

The pounding on the door became more frantic.

"I'm coming." Jimmy opened the door. "Jason? What's up?" Judging from Jason's expression, Jimmy knew the answer before he even spoke.

"They're fighting again. I can't stay there another minute. Can I crash here?"

"Of course." Jimmy answered

"Thanks, man..." Jason sighed

"It's no problem. I told you I was here if you needed me, I just didn't think it would be so soon."

"Sorry."Jason sniffled

"Don't be. It's not your fault. Did you eat?"

Jason shook his head. "They laid into me the second I got back."

"Okay. Pizza it is." Jimmy went into the kitchen to grab the phone book. When he was done placing their dinner order, he returned to the living room. Jason had commandeered the sofa, but was staring off into space.

"Ya wanna talk? It might help." Jimmy motioned for Jason to slide over.

"Is that you?" Jason asked, pointing to a picture on the wall.

"Yeah, me and Tommy, summer of '87. This was the last picture we took before I disappeared."

"How old were you?" Jason asked

"I was fifteen, Tommy woulda been about eleven."

"Wow!"

"All those trophies in the background are his." Jimmy pointed "Even back then, he was a prodigy. Our Dad got us into martial arts early, but Tommy took to it a lot faster than I did."

"But you're both at about the same level, right?"

"In some areas. Tommy knows a lot more than he lets on. Anyway, I'll show you to the guest room. My house is your house for as long as you need." Jimmy rolled off the couch. "It's gonna be alright Jase... don't worry." Jimmy rubbed his shoulder for comfort as he showed him to his new home.

Later that night, about one in the morning earth time, Rita barged into the room her chief monster-maker slept in and zapped him awake.

"Finster, wake your self up!"

A smoking Finster groaned. "What, my Queen. It's still low moon."

"So? I need putties. I know how I am going to defeat the Power Rangers!"

"One army of putties coming up."

"Did I say that... I only need seven, you ninny. I have a plan."

Two hours later, Rita's, ahem, army, appeared in Angel Grove park and began destroying it.

Zordon appeared as soon as the putties did. "Alpha, you must alert the Rangers. Rita's putties are in the park."

"Right away, Zordon." Alpha replied

The Rangers appeared, Zordon having allowed them a minute to put some clothes on.

"Only seven?" Jason shouted, stifling a yawn. "Let's take 'em!"

They fought the putties; a fairly easy job by Ranger standards, but it wasn't Rita's plan to have her putties win, or even put up a decent fight. The second her putties had appeared, she had also enchanted a local citizen to call Angel Grove police and report 'gang activity' in the park.

The putties vanished second before the police pulled up to the Park. They saw seven shapes, damaged picnic tables and stuff and put two and two together.

"What was that about?" Tommy asked upon the putties' hasty retreat.

"I would hypothesize that is might have something to do with the anticipated presence of the local law enforcement." Billy answered

"I ain't hangin' around to find out, that's for sure." Jimmy looked for a viable escape route.

"I think we've been had, guys." Jason recognized the severity of the situation immediately.

Officers surrounded the team, weapons at ready.

"Freeze!"

"Zordon, help!" Jason shouted hoarsely.

"I regret that I am unable to assist, Jason. Were I to teleport you from the situation, your true identities would be revealed. You must find a way to deal with this yourself."

Jason mouthed a rude word. "We're on our own, guys. Anybody got an idea?"

"We need a plan." Zack agreed

"I know what I'd do, but people already think that this show is too violent." Jimmy said "And I'm in enough trouble as it is."

The cops looked suspiciously at the team. "Keep your hands where we can see them!"

Jimmy, either really brave or really sure that the cops weren't trigger happy, stepped forward. "What's up? We were walking home from the movies and heard something that sounded like a fight."

"We received a call about seven thugs vandalizing the park."

"And you thought it was us? We're the p..." Jason almost blew his cover before Tommy covered his mouth. Had he finished his sentence, Zordon's inability to teleport them would not have made a lick of difference.

"You're who?"

"Disregard him. He's had way too much caffeine." Jimmy quickly replied

"You're coming with us. Suspicion of mischief."

Rita cackled. "Finally! I've done it! The Power Rangers are going to jail. Now it's time for me to conquer the earth!"

The seven were read their rights and arrested on-sight.

"Not your day,eh?" Jimmy whispered to Jason, who looked ready to cry.

"I guess not."

"Just chill. I'll get us outta this." Jimmy looked around, hoping that the cops hadn't had enough time to get their night vision going.

"It's a good thing Jase didn't finish his sentence. The newspapers would have a field day." Trini whispered

"I can see the headlines: Power Rangers arrested. Rita Rules!" Zack, despite the inherent predicament he was in, laughed.

Jimmy had been slowly moving away from the others . "If I'm booked, I'm a dead man." He breathed deeply. "Here goes." He took off running into a nearby thicket.

"Stop! Police!" Four of the officers took off after him, leaving their comrades to finish dealing with the others.

"Why'd he do that?" Zack asked, squirming in the back seat of one of the squad cars.

"Maybe he didn't wanna get caught?" Tommy asked, trying to get comfortable beside him.

"Since we didn't do nothin', why the hell is he runnin'? It ain't gonna solve anything and he's gonna look worse when they catch him."

Jimmy ran through the grove, zigzagging left to right, always managing to keep barely a couple steps ahead of the police.

"Perfect." Jimmy ducked into a thick bunch of trees just in time. He crouched when the cops stopped right in front of where he was hiding.

"Where'd he go?"

"He couldn't have gone far." His partner replied "Let's split. Take Michaels and go that way. I'll take Davis and go this way."

The officers split, leaving Jimmy safe in his rather cramped hiding spot. He waited until he was sure that the cops were nowhere around before contacting Alpha and Zordon.

"What is going on? Why are the Rangers now under arrest?" He asked

"I don't know... ay-yi-yi.... Zordon, what are we going to do?"

"We? What's this we stuff? Zordon already said he wasn't going to do anything to help us." Jimmy answered, realizing that contacting them might have been a waste of time.

"Rita has the upper hand. Until I can figure out what she plans, there is no suggestions I can offer." Zordon boomed.

"You're a lot of help. Jimmy out." Jimmy waited, hoping an idea would come to him. Eventually one did, but it was tricky.

"I hope that the coast is clear." Jimmy peeked out of the bushes, looking for his pursuers. There was no sign of any of the officers. "I'm now a fugitive, but they'd be really stupid to arrest a Power Rangers... It's morphin time!"

"Titanus!"

The Purple Rangers walked into the clearing. As he'd hoped, the cops turned their weapons on him, thinking he was the youth who'd eluded arrest earlier. He was, but he wasn't... you get the picture.

"Freeze!"

"Excuse me." Jimmy tried to make it sound like having a gun waved in his face was a normal occurrence.

"I said freeze!" The cop repeated, ignoring the stares he was getting from the other officers, who obviously knew who Jimmy was.

"Uhm...okay." Jimmy answered hesitantly. "Zordon told me that some of Rita's putty patrollers were seen in the area. I assume you saw them, or we wouldn't be having this discussion."

The cop Jimmy had heard being identified as Michaels motioned for him to lower his weapon.

"I think you got some wrong information. We picked up seven youths just a few moments ago."

"Yeah, but one of them got away!"

"Oh. Zordon, it seems like it was a false alarm." Jimmy called base, hoping that Zordon would know how to play along.

"Negative, Purple Ranger... it was definitely a putty patrol the sensors detected. Maybe the humans the police took away saw something."

"Got it." Jimmy acknowledged

"May the power protect you."

"Where are the youths you picked up? I'm supposed to find out what they saw." Jimmy demanded

"They should be downtown by now."

Jimmy decided to play up the role, just in case there were still a few disbelievers among Angel Grove's finest and summoned Titanus for the ride downtown.

"Hi-ya!" Jimmy leaped into the control room. "Okay, guys, I'm on my way."

Once he'd arrived, to his mild annoyance, there were no parking spaces big enough for Titanus so he regrettably had to send her back.

The second Rita saw the Purple Ranger, she threw a hissy fit. "What?!?!??!" She shrieked "How did he escape?!?!?!?! I had everything planned perfectly!!! He'll ruin it all!!! Finster, do something!!!!"

"Time to keep up the charade." Jimmy entered the front area, where the lone on-duty clerk was staring at the boob tube. He cleared his throat to get the man's attention, and only succeeded halfway.

"Yeah?" At least his presence was known, even if the guy wouldn't tear his eyes away from the TV.

"I understand you just brought in a group of teens."

"Uh-huh? You their lawyer?"

"Do I look like it?" Jimmy asked quizzically. "My boss wants to know if they saw a group of putties before the police showed up."

"Let me sign you in."

It took less than no time, but Jimmy was admitted. He wondered what the police would make of it if they ever bothered scrutinizing the visitors' log with any detail.

"Follow me." Jimmy was taken into a small room where he waited for the 'youths' to be brought in. "Just wait here."

Jimmy tapped his fingers together. The desk sergeant knew a little more about him than the uniform branch since he'd been required to submit his blaster prior to being allowed visitation rights.

The other Rangers were soon brought in. If they were surprised to see Jimmy, it was soon masked by other expressions.

"Let's get this over quickly. The cops think I am here to find out what you saw. I'm pretty sure that Rita's on her way."

The other six looked sullen, if not angry. Even Tommy looked pissed at him.

"Is there something wrong, guys? Other than this mess, I mean?" Jimmy demanded

"Yeah, like you are. Leavin' us to take the rap." Kim stated

"Oh, I should've figured that out on my own, right?" Jimmy answered

"Damn straight." Jason pounded the table. "We're a team remember?"

"I know. But if I'd been caught, there'd be a lot more trouble than any of you know." Jimmy's reply was interrupted by a communique from Zordon.

"Purple Ranger, you must go to the financial district immediately. Rita has returned her Grumble Bee to Earth and it has already grown. Teleportation and communications are fading fast..."

Jimmy's link died.

"I think I understood." Jimmy stared at the others. "If you don't want me on the team, all you have to do is ask."

Jimmy banged on the door and left, leaving the rest of the team to their own thoughts.

"Like, wha'd he mean by that? "If I'd been caught, there'd be a lot more trouble than any of you know."

"I dunno. Jate still hasn't told me everything about him." Tommy replied

Jimmy walked back to the entrance and retrieved his Blaster.

"Did you find out what you needed to know?"

"Not really." Jimmy answered "But apparently, Rita's back. I gotta meet with the other Rangers."

Despite Zordon's suggestion of urgency, Jimmy still took the time to leave, walk half-a-block, duck into an alley, power down, go back to the cop shop, post bail for the rest of the team, walk back into the alley, re-morph, and summon Titanus.

It wasn't hard to find Rita's monster. What Jimmy didn't count on was Rita's palace perched on a nearby skyscraper.

"Get him, my Grumble Bee! This is one time when traveling to earth is going to be worth it!"

"I'm sure that's illegal." Jimmy mumbled, waiting for his Zord to arrive. The Bee spotted our hero and squirted a load of venom at him. Jimmy jumped, dodged, and cartwheeled away from the toxic spray.

"Titanus, what's taking you so long?" Jimmy was tempted to resummon it, when he heard her telltale roar. He jumped on board and took control. Not a moment too soon, either.

"Weapons, on-line. Target lock! Fire!"

Titanus fired several blasts at Rita's monster. Most of them missed, I'm not sure how, and even those that landed did minimal damage.

"Oh, for ---'s sake. It barely left a mark!"

"Here, Ranger, have a drink on me!" The Bee fired, scoring a direct hit. Sparks flew from the control panel.

"Guidance systems down!"

Rita laughed, watching Titanus' weapons fire erratically.

"I can't control weapons." Jimmy gritted his teeth. Maybe hitting it would do something... Titanus, ramming speed!"

Titanus plowed into the Bee. It flopped backward, but was soon upright again.

"You'll have to do better than that." It buzzed.

"Okay, I will." Titanus rammed the bee again. Same result,

"Is that the best you got? Have another drink on me!"

Several more shots of venom hit Titanus. More sparks flew from the various mechanisms.

"Attitude control off-line?" Jimmy read another little red screen. "This is getting tricky! Yuk!" A glob of yellow goo trickled down, covering his view screen. "Now I can't even see where I'm going. Switch to automatic control."

Jimmy slammed a button, which if he'd understood correctly, would revert control to Titanus' organic components. Even this didn't help, and Titanus continued to drive erratically, flattening trees, mailboxes, and several smaller buildings in its path.

"If that stuff hits the power grid, we're toast." Jimmy stared at his console, and wondered if now would be a good time to get out and walk.

In the Command Center, Alpha and Zordon had been keeping a watchful eye on the battle, via the viewing globe, even though there was no help they could offer.

"Alpha, continue to run battle scenarios through the computer. We must come up with a way to defeat the monster. And continue trying to re-establish communication with the other Rangers. They must be made aware of the situation."

Back at the jail, the Rangers were stuffed in one of the cells, waiting patiently, and in some cases, trying not to say something very rude about their newest member and the fact that he'd apparently left them.

The jingling of keys surprised them. It was a guard coming to let them out.

"What's goin' on?" Tommy asked

"Apparently, there's a monster heading this way."

"You're letting us go?"

"We've got bigger problems right now. Now get out of here and take cover."

They grabbed their personal items from the desk Sergeant and ran out the door. From the station, they could see the battle clearly, and it didn't look good. Titanus was dead in the water; the Grumble bee firing at it without any signs of Titanus being able to fire back.

"Let's go!" Jason led the team into the same alley Jimmy had used earlier.

"Rangers........" Alpha had managed to restore some communications, but most of Zordon's words were still drowned out by static. "..............Grumble Bee................... downtown............. Ranger.................Titanus inoperable...................." The rest was lost.

"It's Morphin Time!"

"Dragonzord!"

Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-toothed tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

Still unable to teleport, they ran toward the battle.

"I've done it. If I can't have him, then neither can Zordon! Finish him off, my Grumble Bee!"

Rita's monster fired again. Sparks flew from another console when Titanus suffered another hit, this time to it's power couplings.

"Great! What else could go wrong?" Jimmy said, wafting away the smoke to get a better grip of the situation.

"Auto destruct sequence initiated. Two minutes to destruction."

"I had to ask." Jimmy pounded the one working console. It was external communications. He hoped the other Zords could hear him.

"Titanus is gonna blow in less that two minutes. Evacuate the area."

"Impossible. Titanus has built-in fail safes for all its primary systems..."

"All of which are either shot up or off-line." Jimmy flicked various switches, trying to get enough control for one last run with the monster. "I said clear the area. If my Zord is goin' down, then so is Rita's monster, if I can get this thing moving..."

"Ninety seconds to power breach."

"Jimmy, don't do it!" Kim shouted

"Jate, it's suicide." Tommy agreed, setting the Dragonzord on an intercept course. With any luck, the other Zords would arrive in time. If not to save the city, then at least to prevent the Purple Ranger from doing something incredibly stupid.

"You got any other suggestions? Your Zords are too far away right now."

"Seventy-five seconds to imminent destruction."

"Nice way to put it, stupid computer." Jimmy swore.

Jimmy watched as the other Rangers led the evacuation of downtown. Thankfully there weren't too many people in the area at that hour.

"We're clear." Jason said "Are you sure about this?"

"Trust me." Jimmy watched the Rangers also back away.

"Hey, Do-Bee, I ain't done with you yet." In those final seconds, Jimmy got Titanus rolling again.

The Bee accosted it, but instead of firing weapons, all of which were usless, Titanus wrapped her neck around the monster and held on tightly. "Of all the Zords on the planet, I get the one without hands! I guess this will have to do."

"Forty-five seconds."

"Ay-yi-yi!"

"Alpha, have you restored teleportation yet?"

"Negative, Zordon. Every time I think I got it, another charge sends it back off-line." Alpha sputtered

"Thirty seconds."

"Time to get outta here." Jimmy hoped he could find some shelter that would protect him. An Olympic sprinter he wasn't.

"Fifteen."

Jimmy hit the manual exit. Nothing happened.

"Ten."

Jimmy tried again. Still nothing. With five seconds left, he realized what had gone wrong.

"Been nice working with you." He sat down and waited.

Titanus exploded, showering debris across a two block radius. Angel Grove's emergency services quickly arrived, blocking off the area while the Fire Department attended to the fireball. Not even the Rangers were allowed near.

"But..." Tommy protested. A part of him still held out hope that Jimmy had survived.

"Please wait over there until the fire is extinguished."

"Red Ranger, we have restored teleportation. Please return to the Command Center immediately." Zordon's voice boomed. Apparently, communication had also been restored.

"Great f'in timing." Tommy muttered

In the CC, Alpha greeted them, studying a printout.

"Alright, Zordon, what the hell went on down there." Jason shouted

"I am unsure why Rita's monster was so successful. Alpha is studying data from the battle as we speak."

"Ay-yi-yi! It appears that Rita's fortress caused an overload in our systems. This is what stopped us from..."

"Alpha, don't..." Kim sighed, her eyes getting misty.

"It appears that Rita has won this battle, Rangers. There will be other battles; other occasions for you to defeat her. I am ordering a reconstruction of Titanus..."

"But you can't replace Jate!" Tommy shouted

"Easy bro." Jason came over and patted Tommy's shoulder. "It's gonna be difficult, but we're gonna get through this."

"A bit?" Tommy repeated, staring at Jason with a look not seen since his evil Green Ranger days. "I'll never forget what happened. We became Rangers to save the world and what good were we??? We couldn't even save one of our own!"

Tommy's words hit home for everyone. "So don't any of you tell me I'm gonna get through this, especially you." Tommy threw his morpher at Zordon's bubble. It bounced off with a dull thud. "I quit!"

"Tommy, don't do this!" Jason was going to follow Tommy when Zordon spoke. "Jason, let him go. The time for talk will be later once Tommy has calmed."

"If you say so, Zordon." Jason sighed "But what do we do now? We can't go back to the way things were."

"Jason, it would probably help if you woke up." Zordon's voice suddenly sounded a lot like Jimmy's. The Command Center stared to fade out. "Jase, up and at 'em!"

It was Jimmy. Jason had dreamed the whole thing.

"Jimmy, oh man, am I glad to see you! What time is it?"

"Almost eight. We got work to do."

"Work? It's Saturday." Jason yawned

"Zordon needs us a-sap." Jimmy replied "You probably want to get dressed before we teleport unless you wanna show up looking like that."

Jason tossed back the covers, unconcerned that he was wearing only underwear.

"I'll teleport in with you whenever you're ready." Jimmy added, leaving the bedroom to give Jason his privacy. "That must have been some dream you were having."

"It wasn't much, man." Jason replied. How do you explain to someone that you'd just dreamed about his death???

"Then it was a very loud 'wasn't much'." Jimmy replied, his back still to Jason. "I heard you upstairs."

"Sorry if I woke ya." Jason muttered

"Oh well. If you hadn't, Zordon would've. I'm surprised you didn't hear the summons." Jimmy stepped aside when Jason ran into the bathroom.

"I dunno why I didn't." Jason said, staring at his reflection.

"I dunno either." Jimmy said "You ready?"

"Let's go."

"Two to teleport." Jimmy announced, keeping an eye on Jason.

"Sorry for the delay. " he apologized "Someone didn't hear the summons."

"I was having the strangest dream." Jason added

"Rangers, now that you are all here. Rita has sent her Grumble Bee back to earth. It is currently attacking downtown..."

At the words 'Grumble Bee', Jason gulped nervously. He also went deathly white.

"You okay?" Jimmy whispered

Jason nodded. The words 'wasn't much' echoed in Jimmy's mind.

"...prepare the teleportation."

"Zordon, I think Jimmy should stay behind." Jason announced

"What?" Jimmy shouted

"As a precaution. If we can't defeat Rita's monster, then we can use Titanus as a back-up."

"Oh, for the love of the Power!" Jimmy shouted angrily, turning on Jason. "I finally get a summons and you wanna keep me here! What gives?"

"Jimmy, last night I dreamed that Rita sent her Grumble Bee and you were the only one available to fight it."

"So?" Jimmy shrugged

"She took out Titanus, and you. I don't wanna lose you for real, man." Jason answered

"Okay, Jase, you're the boss, " Jimmy resigned himself to more inactivity.

Tommy saw how disappointed his brother was. "Jate, I'll wait with you if you want, man."

"An excellent idea, Tommy." Zordon said "Alpha, Teleport the other Rangers."

"It's morphin time!" Jason shouted

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-toothed tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

Once the five originals had left, Jimmy sighed. "So now what? We wait?"

"If you wish, you may watch the battle on the viewing globe." Zordon offered

"No thanks. Since I'm not needed, I'm goin' somewhere where I can at least be useful. I got stuff to do, anyway before I leave..."

"Leave? Where ya goin', bro?" Tommy interrupted

"Back to school, dude. I only had a week off. I didn't plan on staying here the whole time. I wanted to get my new place settled, hook up with you, and head back. Oh, and there was that little thing about fighting the Green Ranger, but it looks like that will have to wait." Jimmy tagged Tommy on the arm.

"School is important." Tommy answered, giving the moral of the episode.

"Especially when you're paying as much as I am."

"Need any help?" Tommy asked, a little saddened by the news that Jimmy was leaving so soon.

"Nah, it's cool. If I'm needed, doubtful though, just beep me."

"You got it." Tommy replied. Zordon looked a little annoyed.

"Then am I outta here." Jimmy teleported back to his house and quickly packed his bags. No sooner had he finished and brought them downstairs, then the familiar sounds of teleportation distracted him.

"I take it we won." Jimmy said, calmly. Once again, he wasn't needed.

"Piece o' cake. Heck, we didn't even need Tommy." Zack answered

Tommy shrugged. He wasn't nearly as aggravated as Jimmy over not being used.

Jimmy grabbed two sets of keys off the hall table. "Another one of Rita's plans that fell apart."

"When you coming back?" Tommy asked, trying not to let his sadness show.

"School's done at the end of April for me. I'll be here most of the summer." Jimmy grabbed his luggage and took it out to his car. "Anyhow, Jason feel free to use my place until things calm down at home." He offered the second set of keys to his Ranger-mate.

"Thanks, man. I was gonna ask you about that." Jason gratefully accepted them.

"On the rare chance that I'm needed, I have my communicator with me." Jimmy stared right at Jason when he said this. "Not that it's gonna happen."

"Jimmy, I..." Jason stuttered. One second Jimmy was acting almost brotherly to him and the next was making him feel two inches tall.

Jimmy loaded the trunk without another word to him.

"I'll see you in a couple months." He drove away. The team waved until he was but a speck in the distance.

"He's one-of-a-kind, isn't he?"

"Yeah." Kim hugged Tommy, sensing his feelings at the loss.

"Good luck, bro." Tommy whispered

TBC


End file.
